“Hold the rope. If we pull him out through the narrow entrance again, his injuries will worsen.”
“Yes, Chief.”
The Orc subordinate took the rope at the Orc Chief’s words.
“You did well, Egru. You did well.”
Tuunri reached down, stroking Egru while crying.
He’s still alive.
But he was too cold. He looked like he could die at any moment.
“Dwarf, gather the demons. We’ll escape through the underground.”
“Got it! I’ll gather them right away!”
As soon as Bey left, the Orc Chief struck the barrier core with his fist. With each full-force blow, sparks flew.
Still, the barrier core wouldn’t break easily.
Bang!
When his fist couldn’t solve it, the Orc Chief raised his wrist restraint high and repeatedly struck it down. Desperately hoping that either the barrier core or the restraint would break.
He poured all his strength into it like a madman. To the point where the muscle fibers in his swollen arms were about to burst. How much time passed in this urgent moment?
Crack.
“It-it’s broken!”
As Tuunri shouted, the Orc Chief grabbed his arm.
The forcibly opened formula burst out, rotting his flesh from the fingertips. It was the area closest to the barrier core.
“Ugh…”
The hieroglyphs that had been swirling around the barrier core crawled up his wrist. Just as he thought he might have to cut off his arm, the decay stopped at his elbow.
The Orc Chief took a deep breath. He didn’t complain about the pain. There was no time for that, so he immediately swung his remaining arm.
The area around the manhole, freed from the barrier, crumbled after a few punches. To prevent Egru from being hit by falling stones, the Orc subordinate pulled the rope to press him against the passage wall.
“We’ll escape through the underground waterway!”
Finally, the demons had their only escape route.
“All survivors gather here! Come quickly!”
Bey commanded the demons loudly.
“Damn hybrid bastards!”
Following the rough curse, the sound of many military boots shook the ground.
“Kill them all here! Don’t let them escape!”
“Shoot to kill, every last one of them!”
The Imperial soldiers, realizing the barrier was down, began pouring in. The fireballs didn’t attack the Imperial soldiers with defensive formations.
“Tie a new rope and come back.”
The Orc Chief stood up, staggering slightly.
“I’ll go, Chief.”
“No, you take care of the injured…”
“I said I’ll go.”
The Orc Chief glanced down at his festering arm and reluctantly nodded.
He looked around once with a complex gaze. Only about twenty demons remained.
The rope Egru was hanging on was entrusted to Tuunri. Tuunri carefully lowered Egru down. She desperately prayed his breath wouldn’t stop.
“Everyone take shelter underground! Hurry!”
“Prioritize the injured and omegas!”
“Maintain order, everyone! We can all escape safely!”
The Orc subordinate gathered some pipes from the garbage dump. He quickly drove the pipes deep into the ground and secured them firmly. His skilled hands wrapped the rope around them several times.
The Orc subordinate finally waved to Bey in the distance. As soon as he signaled, the demons began their escape.
“Get down quickly! Quickly!”
“But be careful! It’s dark!”
The Orc subordinate stood straight in place. Hiding the rope behind his back.
Since the fireballs weren’t real fire, they didn’t burn objects. The rope would be safe until all the demons escaped.
‘As long as the Imperial soldiers don’t cut it…’
The Orc subordinate drew the dagger attached to his thigh.
He intended to protect the rope until all the demons escaped. Even at the cost of his life.
Just as he raised his head to assess the Imperial soldiers’ positions…
“Huh?”
The red man who had entered first was facing the Imperial soldiers alone. It was a chaotic melee near the entrance.
Unbelievably, the red man was winning. With one heavy punch, an Imperial soldier’s helmet caved in. Blood gushed out between the helmet.
‘What’s this?’
Why is he helping? He looks human.
“Hey! What are you doing! Come quickly!”
At Bey’s shout, he turned to see only three demons remaining. The Orc Chief, Bey, and Tuunri were waiting for him.
‘…For now.’
Is this a good thing?
The Orc subordinate quickly sheathed his dagger and joined his comrades.
***
The day young D’Élysée was left alone at the orphanage.
“Just in case, let me tell you this.”
Levian, who had first driven out his brother, grabbed D’Élysée by the scruff of his neck and said:
“Don’t even think about coming to the brick house. No one will be there. It was in my name from the start.”
D’Élysée’s eardrums felt numb. As if he’d been slapped.
“Your brother’s going to set up house with me now. You can’t be there, can you? Right?”
D’Élysée didn’t even look up at Levian. His pale green eyes only reflected his brother’s back. A back that was voluntarily and obediently moving away.
D’Élysée tightly hugged the yellow chocolate box his brother had given him as a gift.
“You’re an alpha, so your future is bright. Let’s not see each other again, okay?”
D’Élysée quietly reached out. He firmly grasped Levian’s pants as he was about to leave, lighting a cigar.
“Why?”
“?”
“Why can’t I see my brother anymore?”
Levian slowly exhaled the cigar smoke.
“You know too, right? Your brother is pretty.”
Levian carelessly dropped the expensive cigar and stomped on it.
“Remember this. A guy who’s pretty but has no money or brains…”
Levian muttered lowly. He probably thought it wouldn’t be heard. But D’Élysée heard it more clearly than ever.
“That’s how life gets tough.”
There was laughter in Levian’s voice. After that day, D’Élysée really couldn’t find any trace of his brother. As Levian had said, he wondered if they had eloped.
When he met his brother again after a long time, he looked so small. Even more extremely than before.
But he had a face like he owned the world with just a few pieces of cheese.
“It-it probably won’t happen, but even if you lose everything, don’t forget you have a place to come back to. I’ll, I’ll make sure of it.”
He still held more love than anyone in his small body.
Superficial words hiding true feelings meant little to his brother. He quite liked how his brother couldn’t take his eyes off him after meeting again after so long.
“I-I never forgot you for a moment. No matter what anyone says, you were the best gift of my life…”
D’Élysée wanted to see those grain-colored amber eyes as soon as possible.
The high sky turns clear with a pale color.
The garbage dump began to come into view clearly. It was already around dawn.
“…”
Somehow, a silhouette similar to Levian seemed to pass by. Just glimpsed in the alley visible in his peripheral vision. But without looking back, he headed towards the garbage dump.
By the time D’Élysée arrived, they had already finished reinforcing personnel. The garbage dump was sealed off, with several no-entry sign posts planted.
Only a few Imperial soldiers were entering and exiting through the narrowly opened door gap. At a glance, the situation seemed completely over. D’Élysée’s steps gradually quickened.
Splash.
He stepped in a pool of blood, as if a battle had just taken place.
D’Élysée immediately turned around one of the Imperial soldiers.
“I’ve been dispatched from the 3rd Unit of the Papal Headquarters’s Holy Knight Order. Please call the site supervisor.”
The Imperial soldier quietly looked D’Élysée up and down. He seemed wary of the church official.
“…Wait.”
The commander who approached shortly after asked irritably:
“What business do you have? Surely the Papal Headquarters isn’t interfering with the Imperial Palace?”
The commander’s nose bridge was flat and crooked, broken. He was also stemming the blood from his head with one hand. His entire face was severely caved in, as if he had been beaten by someone. But D’Élysée didn’t even pay attention.
“I heard the Imperial Palace sent a request for reinforcements to the Papal Headquarters.”
Hiding his identity inside his helmet, D’Élysée calmly conveyed the lie.
“What?”
“I was ordered to directly confirm the site of the demon massacre. They said we need to make sure if there will be disadvantages for the Holy Knight Order, and further the Papal Headquarters, so we can firmly establish our position going forward.”
“Where did you hear about the demon massacre? More importantly, who conveyed this message?”
“D’Élysée Belered, the Commander of the Holy Knight Order.”
Seeing the expression still filled with distrust, D’Élysée pulled out the Pope’s platinum seal.
“This is the attached item.”
“…We haven’t received any separate communication from the higher-ups about this.”
After a moment of silence, the commander finally started walking ahead.
“Tch, follow me.”
The commander muttered while pressing hard on his head wound.
“Why are there so many bastards wanting to come in today? To this garbage dump with nothing worth seeing…”
Following the complaining commander, D’Élysée passed through the narrow door gap.
“So what exactly do you need to check, and where?”
“I’ll look over everything.”
D’Élysée slowly crossed the wide space. The garbage dump was quiet, as if a natural disaster had just passed through.
Strange. For a massacre site, there were surprisingly few bodies. There was hardly any blood. Only stones emitting a faint light were placed here and there. They were easily visible, marked with circular white powder around them.
“All the demons…”
D’Élysée closed his mouth briefly, then opened it again.
“Have all the demons in the system lost their lives?”
“…I can’t say now. The Papal Headquarters’s position statement comes first.”
It was then that the commander turned around abruptly.
“Look around by yourself from here on.”
“…”
“It’s best not to touch the mana stones, no matter how tempting. There might still be conversion formula energy left. If you don’t want to be converted into a mana stone, just check quickly and get out. We’re busy in various ways too.”
The commander grumbled as he walked away towards the entrance.
‘The lives of demons…’
They’ve converted them into mana stones. D’Élysée could tell at once. The Empire was clearly preparing for war.
‘It’s okay.’
It can’t be. D’Élysée repeated to himself. He maintained his coolness as usual. To avoid thinking of his brother right away, he focused all his attention on the situation before him.